Laugh!
by K.E.Alvarez
Summary: Robin finally takes Saul's advice.


_**I'm still working on **_**The rescue;**_** this just came to me. _**This is set right after Water 7, Robin is still getting used to using the crew's names and letting that 'cool & sophisticated' mask fall away.**_**_

_**One Piece is *not* mine! I know, shocker, right?**_

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><p>"Dereshishishi! Dereshishishi!"<p>

"SHUT UP, LUFFY!"

It had been an unusually quiet morning on the _Thousand Sunny_. And then their captain had started up with that laugh. _Where had he learned such a ridiculous thing?!_

"Usopp! Your debt just doubled!"

"Hey! Don't look at _me_, I didn't teach him that! I don't know where he got it!"

"DERESHISHISHI!"

"DAMMIT, LUFFY!"

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><p>-<em>The previous night-<em>

_Robin woke in a cold sweat. She hadn't dreamt about _that_ in a long time. _

_Making sure not to wake Nami, she snuck out onto the grassy deck and sat on the swing, staring up at the stars. Maybe it was just the whole Enies Lobby incident that brought all the memories back afresh, she reasoned and closed her eyes against the chill of night air. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, shuddering both from the temperature and the old vision of ice covering her old friend. _'Dereshishishi!'

_An eye appeared inside the crow's nest, assuring herself that Zoro was indeed on watch and training, and quickly disappeared. She glanced around a bit nervously and, confident no one was around, took a breath._

"_Dereshishishi!" She stuttered out, the laugh rolling clumsily off her tongue. She paused again to listen but heard only the wind and faint sound of weights from above. She took another breath._

"_Dereshishishi!" This time it came easier, having realized that the bigger her 'grin' the better it enunciated. She giggled in her own laugh at how ridiculous she must sound but took another breath._

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><p>Luffy deftly avoided his pursuers and swung over to Robin's chair, grinning like crazy.<p>

"C'mon, Robin! You should do it too!"

"Leave sweet Robin-chan alone, shit-captain! She's trying to read and doesn't want to be pulled into your idiotic game!"

But Luffy just continued to give her an eager look, and she grinned at his enthusiasm. _Captain's orders, I suppose._

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><p>"<em>Dereshishishi!" And this time she laughed some more, tears gathering a bit in her eyes. She grinned to herself and wiped them away. '<em>Oh, Saul, you were right_.' She laughed again._

"_That's a really cool laugh, Robin!"_

_She gave a violent start, an undignified squeak, and promptly fell out of the swing. She looked up to find her captain hanging off of one of the tree's branches with an innocent smile. Her face went scarlet. "How long have you been there, Ca- Luffy?"_

_He looked thoughtful. "Hmmm. Ummm, just after dinner? Me, Usopp, 'n Chopper were playing hide n' seek. Guess I fell asleep and they never found me." He seemed quite pleased with himself._

_She saw her opportunity and grabbed it like a lifeline. "I'm not surprised, this ship is very large. I'm sure there are dozens of good hiding places around."_

"_Oh, yeah, we explored a whole bunch today! It was great! Did you know there are mini docks below deck? And Franky's gonna fill 'em with lots of surprises!" He looked like he could barely contain his excitement; he was practically shaking with glee._

_She chuckled and steered the conversation some more. "That sounds interesting, I can't wait to see what our new shipwright has in store."_

"_Yup! So, where'd you hear that laugh?" She froze in dismay, _dammit!_ "It's really cool, you should laugh like that more often!" He laughed._

_If she didn't know him like she did she would have pushed him out of the tree for laughing at her. But she knew he was just sharing in what had seemed to be her good mood._

"_Um, no, it doesn't really suit me…" She said awkwardly and he tilted his head questioningly. "It's not my laugh anyway. It belonged to a friend of mine, when I was a child."_

"_Oh, yeah? That must have been one awesome friend!"_

_She smiled gently. "He was." A comfortable silence fell between them for a few moments before a thought struck her and she looked back up at her captain. "You remind me of him, sometimes." She stated, somewhat surprised, as if just remembering a detail she had realized some time ago, but forgot._

_He blinked. "I do? Did he look like me?"_

_She laughed. "No, he was a giant."_

_He seemed pleased with the comparison. "Giants are really cool, too."_

_She chuckled and murmured. "He carried the Will of D, too."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Nothing. If you want, you can use that laugh. I'm too self-conscious to but it's too… 'cool' to not be used."_

_He looked like he had just gotten the best present in the world. Well, besides meat. "Yeah! Thanks, Robin!" He suddenly turned serious though. "But I think you should use it once in awhile too." She looked surprised and he explained. "He was your friend, I think he'd be happy if you used it too. That's why he taught it to you, right?"_

_She was startled by his insight. "How-?" But shook her head. Something told her she would never grow accustomed to her captain's sporadic bursts of wisdom. "…Yes, maybe you're right."_

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><p>"Dereshishishi!"<p>

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><p><em><strong>I was watching the end of Robin's past with my mom and I said out loud 'You know, we never get to hear Robin use that laugh as an adult. That would be really neat.' And the thought struck me: 'I guess that's what fanfiction's for.' *evil grin*<strong>_

_**I realized that, while writing the dialogue, I must speak a lot like I wrote Luffy. I found that I had to double check Robin's to make sure it was 'fancy sounding', but not so much with Luffy's. Not sure whether I should be pleased or worried.**_

If you enjoyed this, perhaps you'd like to check out my other fics? ;)


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